It's been a full two days since election day, and control of Congress is still hanging in the balance.

We are ending our live coverage for the day as we, along with much of the country, await more results.

Meanwhile, here's a summary of what happened on Thursday:

• Votes are still being counted across the country, and as things stand on Thursday night east coast US time, Republicans are short of a majority in the House of Representatives, with 211 seats. Democrats have 193 seats called. A party needs 218 to control the chamber.
• Joe Biden has appeared at a rally in Washington DC to thank Democrats for turning out, and asked them to keep fighting for the party's policies
• Earlier, Donald Trump denied reports that he was upset with the way his chosen candidates performed, posting online "I am not angry at all"
• Control of the Senate is still too close to call, with results in three states still outstanding
• In Georgia, neither Senate candidate reached the required threshold of 50% of the votes, meaning the state will have a run-off election on 6 December
• In Arizona and Nevada, counts continue

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from Atlanta, Georgia

You know by now that Georgia is going to a run-off election, to be held on 6 December. The top two finishers, Senator Raphael Warnock, and Hershel Walker, will advance.

But there was a third candidate in that race: Chase Oliver, who ran as a libertarian. He only got 2.1% of the vote - about 81,000 ballots - but that might have been enough to keep either major party candidate from securing an outright majority.

Oliver, like many libertarian candidates, defies simple partisan categorisation. The 37-year-old describes himself as “armed and gay,” and ran his campaign mostly from the basement of his Atlanta home.

“I knew when I started this campaign, I wanted to force a run-off to force these issues, and I think I succeeded,” Oliver told VICE News., external

Image source, Reuters

Georgians may have voted for him for a variety of reasons. Some Republicans were put off by Walker, who has faced accusations of domestic abuse and reports he paid for two girlfriends’ abortions.

On Election Day, Colin Mackie, a 29-year-old data consultant, cast his ballot for Oliver in the Senate race because “as I get older and things get more divisive, I think I find myself to be more and more of a voter on specific issues”.

He was turned off of Republicans over their election denialism, he said.

“That to me is going to contribute more to the demise of our democracy than anything else".

Image source, Getty Images

Alabama, Oregon, Tennessee and Vermont all voted to remove language from their state constitutions that said slavery is legal as a criminal punishment.

But Louisiana voted to keep the slavery exception after the legislator who had sponsored the ballot initiative, Edmond Jordan, turned against it.

The outcome could see prisoners challenge forced labour in the criminal justice system, say legal experts.

Advocates of the initiative say it is needed to prevent prisoner abuse.

So why did Louisiana reject the change?

Jordan, a Democratic state representative for the city of Baton Rouge, said he pulled his initial support for the measure after a closer reading of the proposed law led him to believe that it could have actually expanded protections for slavery.

Currently, the law states that "slavery and involuntary servitude are prohibited, except in the latter case as punishment for a crime".

The proposal he authored would have removed the phrase "except in the latter case as punishment for a crime" and added a clause saying that the measure "does not apply to the otherwise lawful administration of criminal justice".

Read more on this story here.

Control of the Senate now hinges on the outcome of three states: Arizona, Nevada and Georgia.

In Georgia, the closely-watched Senate race between incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker will head to a run-off on 6 December.

In Arizona, the race is between Democrat Mark Kelly and Republican Blake Masters.

Kelly, a well-known former astronaut and husband to Gabby Giffords, a congresswoman who was shot in the head while meeting constituents, is the sitting senator defending his seat. Masters is a Trump-backed political upstart who, at 36, would be the youngest US Senator if elected.

Image source, EPA

Image source, Reuters

In Nevada, Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto faces a challenge from Republican Adam Laxalt. The Democrat is the first Latina US Senator, but is fighting for political life against Laxalt, her successor as Nevada's attorney general.

Image source, EPA

Image source, EPA

Image source, Getty Images

Brad Raffensperger, who has just been re-elected as secretary of state in Georgia, said election officials will be auditing his own race.

Raffensperger said that over the next few years, he wants to increase the number of risk-limiting audits on elections, to "continue to increase the confidence in our elections".

This year, he said he has chosen his own race to be the subject of a state-wide audit.

"I believe in transparency and accountability to the voters."

Raffensperger is known for resisting efforts from former president Donald Trump to reverse the 2020 election results in Georgia.

He secured his secretary of state seat by winning 53.3% of the vote.

Image source, Getty Images

An unexpectedly close congressional contest in the American West has seized widespread interest - both for its colourful characters and implications for Trumpism.

Colorado's Lauren Boebert, a staunchly right-wing congresswoman, had been widely expected to win. But the contest has been shockingly close, and results still too early to call.

She has now taken a lead over Democrat challenger Adam Frisch for the first time since election night, according to CBS.

On the news, Boebert tweeted: "Winning!".

However, Frisch's campaign says the race is "still too close to call" with thousands of ballots yet to be counted, "including from the military and overseas".

In her first term in Congress, Boebert rose to fame as a "Maga" phenomenon for her combative style, love of guns and ardent support for Trump.

Read more about Colorado's Maga star here.

Enormous amounts of money poured into the 2022 midterm elections - but not all the cash led to victories. Here are some of the candidates in campaigns that saw the biggest outside spending - both for and against them - who ultimately lost their races.

Image source, EPA

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Biden concludes his short remarks by telling the crowd that he's "optimistic" for the party's future, as votes are still being counted and the Georgia Senate election goes to a run-off scheduled for December.

He repeated many campaign promises, like codifying the right to an abortion in federal law. He said that if Republicans are able to pass a national ban through Congress, he will use his presidential powers to veto the law.

And finally, he spoke of his optimism for the youngest generation of voters.

In his speech, Biden touted Democratic policies, saying they are the key to the reason why his party overcame the odds these elections.

"Y'all made this possible. And we're just getting started," he said.

He argued that Democrats have the best economic message and the best plan to tackle climate change, and that Democrats will protect the right to abortion.

More independent voters backed Democrats over Republicans, Biden says, meaning that voters "expect Republicans to work with me as well".

Repeating an earlier line, he adds: "I'll always be open to any good ideas, whether its Democratic or Republican, to move the country forward."

Image source, Getty Images

After delivering short remarks, the vice-president introduced President Biden.

"Thank you for believing in our country," he tells the audience.

"I really mean it. Thank you for fighting like the devil to make sure we had a free and fair elections."

He continues: "Tuesday was as good day for America. A good day for democracy. And it was a strong night for Democrats."

The president's party lost fewer seats than pollsters had predicted, and ahead of the vote, there were fears that doubts over the fidelity of the US election system would lead to disputes, or worse, over the outcomes.

Instead, Biden said, "democracy met the test".

Harris continues thanking Democrats, telling them the vote proved that "the government should not be telling a woman what to do with her body".

She goes on to praise "victories for reproductive rights in five states" which chose to protect abortion on Tuesday.

Voters, she said, are dedicated to "protecting voting rights for every American in every community in every political party".

She also thanks Americans "who rejected big lies and extremism".

"You knew what you stood for so you knew what to fight for."

Image source, Getty Images

Vice-President Kamala Harris has begun speaking at the Democratic event in Washington with President Biden.

She thanked organisers and told Biden: 'You did it, Joe!'

President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris are due to speak soon at a political rally sponsored by the Democratic National Committee in Washington DC.

The event is taking place at the Howard Theatre, a popular DC nightlife venue where Biden held a political rally just last month.

The midterms results have beaten expectations for Democrats, which Biden acknowledged earlier this week.

Election officials in Nevada's Clark County just gave an update on their vote count.

Clark County Registrar Joe Gloria said there are more than 50,000 ballots that still need to be counted.

He said his staff will continue to work through the Veteran's Day holiday Friday to tabulate the results.

"There's no weekend for the Clark County election department."

Gloria added the majority of the ballots should be counted by Saturday. Others that need additional verification will be counted by Monday.

Image source, Getty Images

Officials in Nevada's most populous area - Clark County - will hold a press conference soon.

They have just released a statement in response to claims made by Donald Trump on his social media platform Truth Social, in which he says that Clark County has a "corrupt voting system".

Officials called Trump's claims "outrageous" and said the former president is "obviously still misinformed about the law."

Nevada is home to one of the key races that could decide control of the Senate. It received a high volume of mail-in ballots this US midterms, which has delayed results.

"We could not speed up the process even if we wanted to," the county said, pointing out that Nevada law requires them to accept ballots postmarked by election day up until Saturday.

They added all election systems in Clark County, which includes the city of Las Vegas, are certified by the state and federal governments and are audited several times "to ensure reliability and integrity".

Image source, Getty Images

Twelve women were or will be elected to serve as governors in the US - a new record - following Tuesday's election.

Ten have already been confirmed and two will emerge from women-only contests in two states, Arizona and Oregon.

There are currently nine female governors in the US - and women will also form at least 24% of the newly-elected Congress.

Governors can wield enormous power, from education to abortion rights - and now female ones will be in charge in almost a quarter of US states., external

All eight women governors who sought re-election were successful this year.

Image source, .

Image source, Reuters

We've just heard from Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock in Atlanta, which gives us a chance to remind ourselves what is going on in the Peach State.

Neither candidate, Warnock nor ex-NFL star Herschel Walker, won more than 50% of the vote, meaning that a run-off election will be held on 6 December - after the Thanksgiving holiday.

There are two interesting characters in the race.

Warnock is a Baptist reverend who preaches in the same church as the late black civil rights legend Martin Luther King. His election in a run-off race in 2020 helped flip the Senate for the Democrats.

Wallker is an ex-NFL star and long-time acquaintance of Donald Trump, who gave his "complete and total endorsement" last year. However, he has made national headlines in recent weeks after it emerged that he allegedly paid for a former girlfriend's abortion - despite taking a vehemently anti-abortion position in this election.

By Thursday afternoon eastern time, Warnock was leading the vote count by over 48,000 votes, according to a projection from our partners at CBS.

Image source, Getty Images

It might be days or weeks before we can get a definitive outcome from the US midterm elections.

There's a few reasons why, including a large number of mail-in ballots still left to count in some states, razor-thin margins between candidates, the possibility of recounts, and of course, a run-off election in Georgia.

The US election system is also decentralised - meaning different states have different rules - which is why some finish counting faster than others.

While it may seem like the US takes exceptionally long to call their elections, the reality is that delays are seen in other parts of the world too.

For example, Israel took two days to announce the results of its 1 November election. Sweden also announced the results of its election this year after several days, due to a high voter turnout and close margins.

And in Indonesia, it took over a month to get results for the 17 April presidential election. This is because vote counting mostly happens by hand and in view of the public.

Read more on what's causing the delay in results here.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from Atlanta, Georgia

Image source, Getty Images

Raphael Warnock, the Democratic senator running for re-election in Georgia, has just spoken in Atlanta.

He was making his first appearance since election night when state officials said that a run-off will be held after neither he or ex-NFL star Herschel Walker attracted more than 50% of the vote.

Warnock stood beneath a mural of the late Civil Rights icon and Congressman John Lewis and urged voters to "get it done!"

"You have to admit that I did warn y’all that we would be spending Thanksgiving together, and here we are," Warnock said. "We’ve got some unfinished business." Dozens of supporters braved a drizzly Atlanta day to hear Warnock speak. They chanted "one more time! One more time!" as the senator prepared to speak.

Republican candidate Walker is scheduled to hit campaign trail today in Canton, Georgia where he will be joined by high-profile Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas.

Depending on the outcome of two other races on other side of the country, the election in Georgia could determine whether Democrats or Republicans control the US Senate.

Barbara Plett Usher
Reporting from Washington

The scope for US policy change would be greatly limited if the Republicans take back the House of Representatives as expected.

President Joe Biden has been on the offence for the past two years. He’s shepherded major legislation through Congress; tackling climate change, the coronavirus pandemic, infrastructure and competition with China.

Now he’ll be on the defence trying to implement those laws and protect his achievements.

His administration has also been strategising on how to handle a flood of expected Republican-led investigations.

The Republicans want to probe everything from Biden’s handling of the military withdrawal from Afghanistan to the business dealings of his son, Hunter.

When it comes to policy, the Republicans are talking about increasing domestic energy production, cracking down on illegal immigration at the southern border and renewing fiscal restraint. But it’s not clear that can lead to legislation – as Biden will have the veto pen.